1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system that accounts for credit card transactions within a financial management system where credit card purchases are automatically reconciled to the proper accounts based on credit card number and, more particularly, to a system in which card transactions are subject to controls associated with internal financial system limits such as single purchase limits, account limits, budget limits, etc. which are independent of the credit card company issuer limits and which are set prior to the actual transaction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Credit card transactions are becoming an ever more prevalent method of making purchases by large organizations, particularly small purchases of consumer type items needed on an immediate basis. Organizations want to maintain control over the continuously growing number of these transactions. Such organizations typically operate a financial management system such as Momentum(trademark) Financials available from American Management Systems, Inc. (AMS). Typically, such systems record credit card activity after the fact. An interface reads the credit card files supplied by the credit card company and creates transactions within the system to reflect the purchases and provide for payment. Such systems do not provide for automatic internal controls. Typically, reconciliation for credit card transactions is a paper based process which requires each cardholder to review all of their own card transactions and compare them with vendor invoices or a personal ledger of credit card transactions that the individual keeps.
What is needed is a system that provides the automatic controls and tools necessary to properly account for and manage credit card activity within a financial management system.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that subjects credit card purchases to internal company credit limits and single purchase controls in addition to controls implemented by the credit card company.
It is also an object of the present invention to subject credit card purchases to internal controls, including budgetary, financial planning, project and general ledger controls, prior to the occurrence of the actual transaction.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a financial management system that completely tracks credit cardholders, individual credit limits and default accounting codes for each credit card authorized within the financial management system.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide for the accounting of credit card transactions through all stages of the transaction including requisition and/or obligation which precede the actual card transaction through to payment to the credit card company.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for automated handling of disputes over card purchases.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that automatically reconciles the recorded financial transactions and the card activity as recorded by the card company.
It is another object of the present invention to provide access to credit and information in the financial system to cardholders through the Internet.
The above objects can be attained by a system that controls and accounts for credit card transactions within a financial management system. The invention places limits on the card transactions and ensures that the transactions comply with budget, financial planning and general ledger controls. The transactions can be obligated prior to or during the actual transaction with the bank and thereby subjected to the controls of the financial management system. The invention provides for the complete reconciliation of the credit card transactions with bank records after the transactions occur. The system automatically reconciles the transactions recorded by the bank with those recorded in the financial system and updates budgets, plans, projects, and general ledger entries accordingly.
These together with other objects and advantages, which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.